Innovation and Collaboration in Product Development With a Global Tire Manufacturer
The Challenge
The vice president of product development for the Americas’ division of a major global tire manufacturer was committed to creating a world-class, innovative organization. The product development organization held itself as separate from the overall organization. There were many antiquated views that were limiting innovative thinking and action, impacting results.
Predictable Result
Without an intervention, the Product Development organization would continue be: risk averse, work in siloes with many functions having no idea what the other functions did. They would continue pointing the finger at their corporate counterparts, seeing themselves as very separate. The culture would be one of top down leadership, with a low risk tolerance for any new ideas.
The Results
The Leadership Team is now aligned on the future vision for the organization and committed and North American Product Development and its culture is being held up as a model for other parts of this multinational corporation.
Employees are empowered to use 10% of their time each week on innovation projects they are interested in. There is a structure in place for self-formed teams to brainstorm and design an innovation project and present it to a “Capital Grille” team for funding. The leadership team now routinely challenges themselves as to whether they are producing breakthroughs. A true spirit and culture of collaboration exists in the organization.
